The White Lion
by HighLadyofTerrasen
Summary: The Marauders have another member - Audrey White, a witch with a penchant for mischief just as strong as that of any of the original four. What will change with a fifth Marauder added into the mix? Marauder AU, rated T just to be safe
1. Chapter 1

Audrey White was a whirlwind of excitement as the 1st of September rolled around, and she prepared to depart to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had been confused at first, when the woman, or witch she supposed, had arrived on her door and told her that she was magical, that the strange and wonderful things she could do meant that she was a witch, not that she was going mad. And her mother had seemed relieved too, probably grateful to know that her daughters abilities, were, well, not exactly normal per say, but at least not unheard of.

As the witch, who called herself Professor McGonagall, had explained all about Hogwarts, Audrey felt her eyes go wide at the thought that such a place could exist, such a place of wonders and, well _magic._ And the very idea that she, Audrey, would soon be going there, soon be learning about Transfiguration and Potions and Charms? It sent little shivers of delight up Audrey's spine every time she thought of it. She was sure her father would have been thrilled, not that she'd ever known him. She could just tell.

The day she had gone to Diagon Alley to get her school supplies had been one of the most exciting days of her life. Just experiencing it, seeing the goblins in Gringotts, the strange and amazing things on sale in the various shops and stalls, made it that little bit more real for Audrey. And when she had finally gotten her wand in Ollivander's, and the room lit up with soft golden light as it chose her, she had felt… complete. As if a part of her that had previously been untethered had finally settled into place. Her mother had even bought her an owl as a going away present, a beautiful Barn Owl with a white face and soft, brown plumage whom Audrey had christened Demeter.

Now, her trunk was packed, Demeter was safely stowed in her cage, and Audrey and her mother were hurrying across King's Cross Station, carefully following the instructions given to them by Professor McGonagall, no matter who bizarre they seemed. But, just as the professor had explained, Audrey and her mother were able to walk through what appeared to be a solid wall, and found themselves on a bustling train platform, with a bright red train with the words 'Hogwarts Express' emblazoned on the front in large, black letters readying to depart. Children from ages eleven to eighteen were running around in a mixture of muggle clothes and wizarding robes; some had already donned the crisp, black robes identical to the ones she kept in her trunk which were to be Audrey's school uniform.

As her mother seemed rather uncomfortable surrounded by all these strange people, Audrey thought it would be best if she made her own way onto the train, and reached up to hug her mother goodbye. Her mother embraced her tightly, and bent down to whisper in her ear. "I love you, baby girl, I love you. Enjoy yourself this year, and please, be careful."

Audrey reassured her mother that she loved her too, and yes, she would be careful, before stepping back, out of the embrace. After one final kiss on the cheek, Audrey turned around and, after one final glance of the proud smile on her mother's face, she grasped her trunk in one hand and Demeter's cage in the other, and made her way toward the train.

She hadn't gotten far, however, when she was almost bowled over by a boy who appeared around her own age, with the messiest hair she had ever seen, and glasses which had been knocked crooked by the impact. "Sorry," came the apology as the boy, who was quite a bit taller than her, straightened his glasses. "Didn't see you there." "It's ok," replied Audrey shyly. The boy then stuck out his hand, and, claiming her tiny hand in his larger one, introduced himself as James Potter. "Audrey White," she replied, as he shook her hand so vigorously she thought it was liable to come off at the elbow.

As he released her hand, James seemed to notice her trunk, which was, in all fairness, almost as big as Audrey herself. "Do you want some help with that?" he asked, before shyly continuing, "you could sit with me, if you like. My trunk is already on the train." Relief flooded Audrey, as one of her primary worries, as she lay in bed the night before, was what she would do on the train. It wasn't like she knew anyone else who would be on board. She smiled at James, who seemed nice, if not a bit hyper. "Alright, lead the way."

As they made their way towards the train, James elbowing people out of the way to clear a path for himself and the smaller girl in his wake, Audrey kept an eye on the people around them, occasionally apologising to those who had been on the receiving end of James' elbow. As she watched, she couldn't help but notice a boy, about her age, with short, black hair, standing on his own on the platform. Her eyes were drawn, not to his wavy dark hair, almost identical to her own, or his eyes of crushed, icy blue, but to the ring of bruises surrounding his left eye. She frowned, and made to move towards him, but his eyes suddenly snapped to hers, and with a wink and a smirk, he was gone, vanishing into the crowd. Blinking at his sudden disappearance, Audrey hurried to follow James onto the train.

As they made their way towards the compartment, James continuing to clear the way for Audrey, he chattered on about Hogwarts, and which House he hoped he'd be in (he staunchly insisted he would be a Gryffindor). As they entered the compartment, and James helped her stow her trunk in the overhead compartment with his, James changed tactics. "By the way, are you a muggleborn?" " A what?" Audrey had the familiar feeling she had heard the term before, probably in one of the books Professor McGonagall suggested she buy, but she couldn't quite remember what it meant. "A muggleborn," replied James. "someone with non-magical parents?" "Oh," Audrey squirmed uncomfortable. Was it a bad thing to be a muggleborn? Did it mean she would be behind in some way? "Why do you ask?" James seemed to sense the nerves in her voice, because he turned from poking owl treats through the cage of his post owl, Hermes, cage. "No reason. You just seemed a bit bewildered on the platform is all. It doesn't mean anything, really. Well," he hesitated, "not to most people anyway." What do you mean?" 

"Well," James began, "there are some old pureblood families, horrible people, the lot of them, who think that purebloods are much better than everyone else. They especially hate muggleborns. They call them…" James hesitated here, as if he didn't want to continue, but a new voice from the doorway finished for him, causing both children to start and turn to face the intruder. "Mudbloods." To her shock, Audrey found the boy from the platform giving them a half smile from the doorway. "They call them mudbloods. And my parents are among the very worst of those heinous, bigoted idiots. Not that I share their ideals." At this the boy plopped gracefully down onto the seats. "I'm Sirius Black. We're friends now." James and Audrey shared a glance, which clearly said, _Well, ok then._ Suddenly, Audrey remembered she had been asked a question.

"Oh, I never answered your question. Uum, I don't actually know whether I'm muggleborn or, or…" "Half-blood?" Sirius supplied. "Right, that." "How can you just, not know?" James's face was the picture of confusion, his eyebrows drawn in to wrinkle his forehead. Sirius merely looked politely intrigued. If she hadn't been so uncomfortable, Audrey would have been amused. "Well, my dad, he died before I was born, and he never even knew mom was pregnant, so he might have been a wizard and he just, didn't mention it, or maybe he was just normal. Guess I'll never know." With that, she sat down beside Sirius, James across from her. "Huh," James frowned again. "Sorry about your dad." "Ya," Sirius agreed, who, true to his name, had become fleetingly serious. "That must suck." "It's ok," Audrey shrugged. "It's not like I ever knew the difference." The tension in the compartment was broken by the door sliding open, to reveal a boy the same age as them, who looked exhausted. "Is it ok if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

Before the boys could say something less than friendly and scare the new boy off, Audrey jumped in. "Of course," she smiled. "I'm Audrey White, that's James Potter, and the idiot currently laughing at who knows what is Sirius Black." True to her statement, Sirius currently had tears of laughter streaming down his face as he howled. Ignoring Sirius, Audrey calmly advised the new boy to do the same before asking him for his name.

As the boy sat down, he informed them that his name was Remus Lupin, and after making polite conversation with the boy for a few minutes, Audrey finally turned to the still laughing boy in the corner. "What, exactly, are you laughing at, you idiot?" "White," Sirius panted, your name is White." "No, really? I had no idea," Audrey replied, her sarcasm eliciting a laugh from the other two boys. "What about my surname is so incredibly amusing to you Sirius?" "Mine is Black. We're Black and White!"

After letting the boy's statement sink in for a moment, Audrey sighed. "You really are a hopeless case." "But you love it." "That remains to be seen." As they quipped back and forth, Audrey found herself smiling. As Sirius struck ridiculous poses on the seat behind her, Audrey laughed. "Alright, you fool. New topic. What houses do you think you'll be sorted into? James, you're not allowed to answer," Audrey warned, as the boy opened his mouth to once more begin pontificating on the wonders of Gryffindor house. As the bespectacled boy pouted, Audrey, Sirius and Remus launched into a lively discussion on the merits of each house. Sirius, it turned out, wanted to be in Gryffindor purely to annoy his horrible, elitist parents. Remus said he didn't mind where he went, but Audrey could see the longing behind his eyes to be in Gryffindor. And indeed, to be brave and bold _did_ sound exciting. But then again…

"I think I'd be happy with Gryffindor or Slytherin," Audrey said, to immediate outcry from James and Sirius. "Why would you voluntarily go into that snake pit?" Sirius' disbelieving voice was soon answered by a cool, cultured on from the doorframe. "It's not like Slytherin would accept the little mudblood, Black, so really, it's all the same to us. You can keep her, you filthy blood traitor." As Audrey flinched at the harsh words, Sirius only grinned.

"Hello, cousin. Nice to see you." "So," the older girl hissed, "you want to be a Gryffindor, do you? Want to join the mudbloods and the traitors? Want to disgrace and defile the good name of Black?" By this point, the girl was shouting at Sirius, her dark hair waving behind her. Sirius rose from his seat, and approached the doorframe where she stood. "Yes, I do. Do get with the program, Bellatrix." With this, Sirius promptly shut the door in his cousins face, and returned to his seat. After a stunned silence, Audrey spoke up. "Well, Gryffindor it is then."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi there! Hope you like this fic so far, I'm going to try to be somewhat regular about updating so hopefully I'll have another update in a week or two. Thanks so much for reading and please favourite/follow and review if you like it! Constructive criticism is appreciated.**

 **Disclaimer: The Harry Potter franchise belongs to J.K Rowling. The only thing I own in this story is my OC, Audrey**

 **Enjoy!**

The rest of the train ride passed without incident, as the four friends got to know each other. It emerged that James and Sirius both supported the same Quidditch team, Puddlemere United, the discovery of which very nearly sent both boys into raptures of delight. As they disembarked from the train, James grabbed Audrey's hand and began to clear a path. When he turned to give her a grin, he answered her questioning look. "Well, you're so tiny, it'd be easy for you to get swept away. Gotta make sure we stick together." Although Audrey huffed at being called 'tiny', she was touched by James' decision to look out for her. She had always been an only child, but she had a sneaking suspicion that, maybe, this was what having an older brother would have felt like.

When all the first years had gathered around a large, bearded man who called himself Hagrid, and had boarded the boats which would take them to Hogwarts, Audrey allowed herself a minute to admire the beauty of the castle lights reflecting on the lake. As she watched the twinkling lights reflected on the calm, still water of the lake, she felt her nerves about the Sorting slip away. How much could it really matter where she was sorted? She was at Hogwarts now, and she had never been happier. She had already made three good friends, and she was sure she wouldn't just stop being friends with them, even if they were sorted into different Houses.

All too soon, the boats had entered a stone tunnel, and as the lake, still lit by the light emanating from Hogwarts, she felt her nerves about the Sorting return. Before Audrey knew it, they had disembarked and were being shepherded into lines by the same stern looking woman who had come to tell Audrey that she was a witch. As the lines were in alphabetical order, Audrey was second to last, placed in front of a stunning dark skinned girl whom Audrey had heard McGonagall call Elora Zabini. Separated from her newfound friends, Audrey could only hope that they would be reunited again soon.

Her knees seemed to quake, and her mouth was dry as Audrey waited for her name to be called. So far, all her friends had been sorted into Gryffindor, which had only helped to fuel Audrey's determination to be sorted into that house. When Professor McGonagall called her name, she walked towards McGonagall, all the while praying that her knees didn't give out, and lowered herself shakily into the three legged stool that had been brought into the Great Hall along with a battered, beaten old hat that had sorted all the others into their Houses. It had sung a song before it begun, but Audrey had been too nervous to really hear what was being said. McGonagall lowered the Hat on to her head, and suddenly she could hear it speaking to her and her alone.

"Well, well, well," the Hat crooned. "What have we here? A muggleborn? Oh, but wait…. Ooh, that's very interesting." "What's interesting?" Audrey thought. It appeared the Hat could hear her, because it chuckled. "Oh, nothing, nothing. You'll find out eventually, I'm sure. Now, where to put you?" "No, wait, what's so interesting?" The Hat ignored her. "Let's see, brainy enough, but somehow I don't think Ravenclaw is quite the right fit for you. Not really the best fit for Hufflepuff either. So, which will it be? Gryffindor or Slytherin. You have such ambition, such a desire to prove yourself, you'd fit into Slytherin quite well. But then, such courage, and oh! Such loyalty! Yes, you'd do very well in Gryffindor too." "I want to be in Gryffindor," Audrey said stoutly. "Put me there please." "Well, just because you had the courage to ask, it'd better be GRYFFINDOR." The Hat shouted out the last part for the entire Hall to heat, and the enormous room filled with thunderous applause, none louder than the Gryffindor table. And no one at the Gryffindor table cheered louder than the three first year boys sitting in a row, with an empty place beside them that she hurried to fill. As she was clapped on the back by Sirius and Remus and hugged by James, Audrey smiled, suddenly so glad that she was a witch, that she was a Gryffindor, and that she was sitting here with James, Sirius and Remus. It didn't seem like life could get any better.

After being led to the Gryffindor common room by a Prefect whose name Audrey had already forgotten, Audrey and her friends were told where to find their dormitories, and that they had an hour of free time before they had to be in bed. Needless to say, Sirius, Remus, James and Audrey immediately commandeered a nearby couch which had not been taken up by older students, and flopped onto it. Well, James, Sirius and Remus flopped onto it, and Audrey flopped onto them. The boys chuckled. "Merlin, Audrey, do you ever eat? You're so light!" Audrey laughed, before poking him in the side. "Of course I eat, just because I didn't eat an entire treacle tart at the feast.." "Hey, Sirius interjected, "James and I shared!" "No, no, no," James complained, "don't draw me into this!" As James and Sirius began to bicker, Remus rolled his eyes at Audrey and grinned. "To think we'll be listening to this for the next seven years." Audrey picked up the thread and continued. "Honestly, how will we manage? I should have asked the Hat to put me in Slytherin, at least then I'd be safe from their egos."

With indignant looks, James and Sirius turn on her. "Hey!" "Don't act like you don't love us." "In fact, you'd be lost without us." "Don't even try to deny it." Audrey and Remus groaned. "Are they really tag teaming us now?" "Seems like it." Remus' smile was equal parts apologetic and amused, and when James started to tickle Audrey, in an attempt to convince her that she would, in fact, be lost without them, the evening whiled away in an easy camaraderie that made her think that she would be friends with these boys for a long time.

That night, as it was time for her to meet the other girls she would be sharing a dormitory with, Audrey felt uneasy. It was one thing to have her friendship with the boys, but if the girls in her dormitory didn't like her, she was in for a rather awkward seven years. Her fears were allayed, however, when, upon her entry into the dorm, she was met with the bright, easy chatter of the other girls. They quickly introduced themselves, and Audrey just managed to put names to faces. Marlene McKinnon was the tall girl with the long, brown hair, Dorcas Meadows was just barely taller than Audrey with blond hair that curled to her shoulders, Emmeline Vance's hair was brown as well, darker than Marlene's, and she blue eyes that were just a few lighter than Audrey's own sapphire hues. The last girl, Lily Evans, had beautiful, long red hair and stunning green eyes. Her bed was the closest to Audrey's, so it was natural that she was the one Audrey ended up whispering to that night. "So," Lily asked hesitantly, "are you Muggleborn as well?" Audrey smiled, a small, genuine smile. "Ya, it's weird, isn't it?" Lily smiled back. "Very. At least you have Potter and Black and Lupin to answer questions. My only friend was sorted into a different house." "Which house?" Audrey asked. "Slytherin." Audrey flinched, and Lily raised her eyebrows. "We had a nasty encounter with one of the older Slytherins on the train. Sirius' cousin, in fact." At Lily's worried expression, Audrey wished she'd bitten her tongue. That was probably not what Lily needed to hear right now. "I'm sure he'll be fine, though, she only didn't like me because I was Muggleborn." Audrey could tell that Lily didn't believe her, put she didn't push it. She snuggled closer into her blankets, until only her eyes were peeking out; her hair, like an ebony wave, spilled over her pillow. Closing her eyes, Audrey yawned. "Night Lily." She could hear Lily settling into bed before she replied. "Night Audrey." As Audrey drifted off, she smiled. She was in Hogwarts, and soon, she would start learning how to do magic.

The next morning, Audrey woke up to the chatter off the other girls and the sounds of people laughing in the common room. She dressed quickly and pulled a brush through her hair before making her way down to the common room to find James, Sirius and Remus standing there with another, mousy looking boy who she had vague memories from the Sorting. Something warmed in Audrey's heart at the sight of them lounging at the foot of the staircase to the girls dorms. They had waited for her. Without further ado, Audrey bounded down the stairs to meet them. The new boys name was Peter; he seemed nice, if not a little shy, and seemed to look up to James with something akin to hero worship, which amused Audrey endlessly. The five of them made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast together, and as they ate, all Audrey could think was soon, she would have her first magic lesson.

After breakfast, Professor McGonagall handed them out their timetables for the year. Their first class, it appeared, would be charms with Professor Flitwick. Some classes they had as just the Gryffindors, and others another other houses. They had Charms on their own, History of Magic with the Hufflepuffs, Potions with the Ravenclaws, Transfiguration on their own, Herbology with the Slytherins, Defence against the Dark Arts as all four Houses, and Astronomy on their own. They also had Flying lessons once a week; all four Houses were together for this.

As the five friends made their way towards the Charms classroom, Sirius and James began to discuss who they should prank first. Sirius suggested various cousins of his, James thought it should be one of the non-Gryffindor Prefects, Audrey even chimed in and suggested her own dorm mates. They arrived at the Charms classroom before they could decide, and spent the first half of the lesson learning the theory behind the Levitating Charm. For the first time in her life, Audrey was actually interested in schoolwork, and didn't take her eyes off Flitwick, the tiny Charms professor, until he told them to get into pairs to practice trying to levitate feathers. Audrey turned to find James smiling down at her, while Remus and Sirius partnered up, leaving Peter with one of the Hufflepuff boys, Andrew Goldstein. Twice, she tried the charm, making sure to keep her enunciation clear and her wrist movements precise. Twice she failed. The only thing that made her feel better was the fact that James couldn't seem to manage it either. Then, on the third try, her feather, miraculously, moved. It wasn't much of a movement, but it was definitely there. Glancing at James, who motioned for her to try again, Audrey repeated what she had done. The feather floated off the table and towards the ceiling. Beaming, she directed the feather towards Sirius, tickling his nose, and Remus, prodding at his neck. Finally, Flitwick noticed her proud smile and her floating feather, awarding her ten points for Gryffindor. Audrey's smile grew impossibly wider. She was the first person in her year to gain points for their House. James gave her a brief, one armed hug as Sirius, Peter and Remus congratulated her. Lily and Marlene, who were partners, also noticed and gave her a thumbs up from the other side of the room. Audrey grinned at them before turning to James and helping him with his feather. He was the third person in the class to get it, after Lily. Remus and Sirius were fifth and sixth, after one of the Hufflepuff girls whose name Audrey didn't know, managed it. Peter needed a little extra help, but he got there soon after his friends, and Audrey beamed with pride at her friends. They were doing it, they were doing _magic,_ and as Audrey sent her feather floating once more up into the air, she didn't think she'd ever seen anything more beautiful than that single white feather, drifting towards the ceiling.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi again! Thanks to everyone who has read the story this far, especially those who have favourite or followed. Special thanks as well to everyone who has reviewed the story; there's a review response at the bottom of the chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please, follow/favourite and review!**

 **Disclaimer: The Harry Potter franchise belongs to J.K Rowling. The only thing I own in this story is my OC, Audrey**

As the first years began to settle in, it was as though Audrey had never lived anywhere else, as though the castle had always been her home. Although she missed her mother, she wrote every week, exchanging news and talking about their days. As it turned out, Audrey was excellent at Charms, and Flitwick regularly went into raptures whenever she managed to succeed in casting a new spell. However, her brilliance at Charms was levelled out by her terrible Transfiguration work. As hard as she tried, Audrey just could not get a handle on the subject. What made it worse, was that Sirius and James both excelled, and took every opportunity to remind her of this. She was good at Defence and Herbology, middling in Potions and Astronomy, and, like every other Gryffindor first year, struggled to keep her eyes open in History of Magic.

What surprised Audrey most in her first weeks in the castle was her friendship with Peter. She would readily admit, she didn't think much of him at first. Quite honestly, she had only looked twice at Peter because he shared a dorm with James, Sirius and Remus, and seemed to be friends with them. However, it was during their second week in the castle that Peter really proved himself to Audrey.

They had been assigned an essay on how to brew a potion to cure headaches , and Audrey had finally finished it. No sooner had she let out a sigh of relief, however, than she accidentally knocked over her inkwell, spilling the black liquid all over her recently completed essay. Almost ready to cry, Audrey frantically began to mop up the ink, but only succeeded in spreading the mess. She had just about given up when Peter noticed her dilemma.

Pointing his wand at her parchment, he muttered a spell Audrey had never heard before, _tergeo,_ under his breath, miraculously cleaning up the ink, leaving only her essay, now unspoilt. Audrey stared at Peter, gaping. Her surprise increased further when Peter began to speak. "I'm a half blood, and Mum never understood how Dad could just magically fix a broken mug, or clean a window. The others, they were surrounded by magic their whole lives, so they don't understand that it might take some time to get used to having it. But, if you want me to, I could help you get used to it. Only if you want me to, though." After recovering from her shock, Audrey smiled at Peter.

"I'd love that, Peter. What was that spell you just used?" Peter returned her smile, and from then, he became something of a guide to the magical world for Audrey. He explained things that didn't make sense to her, but that the others had been seeing for their whole lives. He helped her get used to the magical world, and in return, she helped him with Charms, practising with him outside of class until he could do the spells perfectly.

Audrey's relationship with Remus also developed in those initial weeks. While James, Sirius and Peter were happy to just charm wads of paper to fly at each other all evening, Remus and Audrey both wanted to do well at Hogwarts. While Audrey knew she worked so hard because she wanted to prove that she was just as good as any other witch or wizard, even if she had only discovered magic a few months ago, she had no idea what drove Remus to work as diligently as he did.

She also had no idea where the scars covering his arms had come from. Some were small and faded, while others were longer and bright red, indicating that they had been inflicted recently. Sirius had asked, once, where Remus' scars had come from, but Remus had turned so red, and had mumbled and muttered, and had looked so uncomfortable that the others came to an unspoken agreement never to ask again.

However, behind Remus' scarred visage and quiet demeanour lurked two things; a brilliant mind and an obsessive love of chocolate. The latter of these was quite comical, as Remus was very possessive of his chocolate, and while he was generous with everything else, from his quill's to his time, his chocolate was off limits. He only ever gave it away in dire circumstances, like when Sirius, rather than receiving the trinkets, sweets and congratulations that all the others were sent upon their sorting, received only a letter which made his face pale and his lips tremble.

Reading it over his shoulder, Audrey had only managed to make out two words over his shoulder before he tossed it into the fire. _Disgrace_ and _traitor._ Even though the dark haired boy insisted he was fine, he leaned into Audrey as she put her arms around him, and propped his head on hers as he accepted the proffered chocolate from Remus. And if later, when they were watching Remus and Peter play chess, while James charmed pieces of paper to fly into the back of the unsuspecting heads of those around them, Audrey felt a tear trickle from Sirius' cheeks into her hair, well, Audrey would never tell anyone.

The topic of Remus' brilliance, however, came up often, usually in relation to how they could use it to prank those around them. The boys, and Audrey, were determined to make a name for themselves in the school, and pranking seemed to be the best way to do so. The only question remaining was how they would start.

It was Peter's idea to do it at the Hallowe'en feast. It would be relatively easy, he explained. Put a charm or something on the food, and watch what happened. After much research by Audrey and Remus, it was decided that a simple Colour Changing Charm would do the trick. They planned to place the charm on the food, or maybe the drinks, and watch the result. By spending what was perhaps an inordinate amount of time in the library, they figured out how to cast the charm so that it would only effect the person who consumed the food, rather than the food itself. It was decided that Audrey and James would cast the spells, since they were the best at Charms, and after much practice, they managed to turn a grinning Sirius and Peter purple, while Remus clapped and laughed. At last, the day of the Hallowe'en feast arrived, and the plan was put into action.

After much consideration, it was decided that, in order to cast the charms, James and Audrey would have to come into the Great Hall late. The excuse was that James had misplaced his Transfiguration essay, and Audrey was helping him to look. They would come into the Hall ten minutes late, when the food was already out, loudly complaining at how someone had left his essay with their spare parchment, and imagine if he had had to redo it all over again? As one was speaking, the other would surreptitiously cast the charm as they passed the table. It was decided that they would target as many pitchers of pumpkin juice as possible at the Slytherin table, the Yorkshire puddings at Hufflepuff, the mashed potatoes at the Ravenclaw table, and that they would leave the Gryffindor table alone. After all, Sirius pointed out, there wasn't much good in pulling off a fantastic prank if everyone in their house hated them for it. The plan worked perfectly, and as James and Audrey joined their friends at the Gryffindor table, they all shared a conspirator's grin.

The prank worked like a dream, as people throughout the Great Hall began to randomly take on a rather fluorescent shade of purple. Eventually, almost a quarter of the population of the Hall was purple, and Dumbledore stood up from his seat. As he stood, the Great Hall quieted, the outraged shouting and laughter of the students petering out. "Who," Dumbledore asked quietly, "is responsible for this?"

The five friends grinned at each other. After all, there was no point pulling off an extraordinary prank if they didn't take the credit for it. As one, the five stood from their seats, climbed onto the tables, and bowed. After a shocked silence, one of the Gryffindor students began to clap, Audrey looked around, and saw that it was Gideon Prewett, in third year. Then his twin brother, Fabian, joined in, the more and more, until most of the hall was clapping and cheering, even some of those who had been turned purple.

Audrey couldn't help but notice that very few of the Slytherin's were clapping, but that was ok; she couldn't really blame them. It even seemed as though Dumbledore was smiling at them, as he spoke above the cheering. "Your Head of House will speak to you later. For now, you may enjoy the Feast in piece. But first…"

At this, Dumbledore waved his wand over the Hall, and all those who had been turned purple returned to their normal appearance. And they could only suppose that he had lifted the charms from the food and drink as well, as no one else was turned purple for the remainder of the feast. And even though they knew that Professor McGonagall would no doubt punish them for the prank, with their friends around them, clapping them on the back and asking how they had done it, they couldn't really find it in themselves to care.

The five friends were right; McGonagall _did_ punish them. However, they couldn't help but feel that she hadn't been as harsh as she could have been. She only took ten points from each of them, and fifty points, while quite a lot, could easily be recovered. Gryffindor had already been in the lead in the first place, so it hadn't hurt their chances at the House Cup all that much either, putting them in second behind Ravenclaw. They also received a week of detentions each, but as all they had to do was write lines, and they were permitted to do it together, it didn't seem too hard a price to pay for their newfound fame. For they were, indeed famous. They had gone from just 'those first years' to 'the kids who pulled the prank at Hallowe'en.' People even knew their names. The Prewett twins, especially, had been delighted by what they did, and had offered to help them with homework if they needed it, which the five friends greatly appreciated, as the detentions left very little time to complete the assignments which had begun to pile up.

It seemed the only person in Gryffindor who was unhappy with them was Lily Evans. Apparently her friend, a Slytherin named Severus Something-Or-Other, had been turned purple, and Lily was not amused. She wasn't happy about them losing points either, despite the fact that the very next day, Audrey won ten of those back in Charms, James and Sirius won five each in Transfiguration, and Remus another ten in Potions. She had even gone so far as refusing to speak to them, not that it bothered the boys so much, as they didn't really know her, so it made little difference to them. Audrey was quite annoyed, however. It was only a small prank, they hadn't hurt anyone for Merlin's sake, and really, it wasn't as if they turned _her_ purple. She really did need to sort out her priorities.

 **Review Responses:**

 **AProudSlytherpuff: Personally, I wouldn't be in Gryffindor either (I'm a Slytherin** **), thank you so much for reviewing!**

 **Guest: Thank you so much, I'm so happy you like the story so far!**

 **Guest: I'm really glad you like the story, thank you!**

 **FyreByrdy: I'm sorry you didn't like the story so far, I am doing my best to make the story original so please let me know if there is anything in this chapter you liked/didn't like or think I should change!**


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